MORRILTON — The Russellville Cyclones extended their losing streak into the new season Friday night, falling 42-14 on the road to the Morrilton Devil Dogs.

Morrilton thrashed Russellville’s defense with a balanced running attack, gaining 277 yards on the ground, most of it coming from the combined effort of halfbacks Jamar Criswell and Paris Avery.

“We’ve got some talented players,” Devil Dogs Head Coach Cody McNabb said. “We definitely have some big play capability … and we were able to get the ball in the hands of some of our big play guys.”

Morrilton’s first three touchdowns were all plays of 30 yards or more. On third and 10, quarterback David Ford found Criswell for a 42-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 8:48 left in the first quarter.

Russellville struck back, however, piecing together a methodical drive that halfback Kendall Bond capped with a 3-yard rush on fourth and goal to tie the game 7-7 with 6:18 left in the first.

From there, it was all Morrilton. The Devil Dogs moved the ball on the ground to midfield before Ford connected with Toney Hawkins on another deep pass play, a 49-yard strike to give them a 14-7 lead with 3:53 left in the first quarter.

Ford went out with an injury in the second quarter, but Toney Hawkins subbed in at quarterback and took a quarterback keeper 37 yards for the third Devil Dog touchdown. The point-after kick gave them a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

The turning point for Russellville came on the ensuing drive. On first and five from their 25, quarterback Cody Jones threw a strike to Lane Reves for 73 yards, taking the Cyclones all the way to the Morrilton 2. The red zone opportunity was squandered, though, as Russellville fumbled twice inside Morrilton’s 5, the second of which the Devil Dogs recovered.

“Down on the goal line, that was a disaster. We just blew that,” Cyclones Head Coach Jeff Holt said. “We left several touchdowns out here on the field, and with a team that’s as explosive as they are, you have to take advantage of all your opportunities. We just didn’t get it done.”

“I knew we had a young secondary and they were going to struggle early,” McNabb said. “I was glad to see our defense move on from a big play and then step up in the red zone.”

Morrilton took a comfortable 21-7 lead into halftime and opened up the second half with a methodical ground game with Paris Avery as their workhouse. On third-and-12 on Russellville’s 15, Ford ran a play-action pass and rolled out to find Warren Leaphart in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown, extending the lead to 28-7 early in the third.

Russellville’s two ensuing drives resulted in costly turnovers. Cody Jones threw an interception deep in Morrilton territory, which the Devil Dogs returned for a touchdown, following an 11-yard touchdown strike from Ford to Leaphart.

Russellville brought back in starting quarterback Mitch Mullen on the next drive, but the junior also threw an interception to Morrilton’s Reese Heidenreich, who bobbled and caught before stepping out of bounds on the Cyclones’ 14. A 6-yard touchdown run by Jamar Criswell capped Morrilton’s scoring for the night, giving them a 42-7 lead and invoking the mercy rule.

Russellville ended the night on a high note, moving down the field with the help of two 20-plus yard plays by Nick Hendrix which ended in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Mullen to senior wideout Frank Chiolino. The PAT completed the scoring for the night at 42-14.

The loss is the 10th in the row for Russellville, who lost the last nine games of the 2010 season after beating Morrilton in the season opener.

Mitch Mullen led the Cyclones in the air, completing 10-of-23 passes for 123 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Kendall Bond was the workhouse on the ground, carrying the ball 11 times for 58 yards and one touchdown. Lane Reves caught three passes for 93 yards.

David Ford led the Devil Dogs with 10 completions on 15 attempts for 155 yards and four touchdowns. Jamar Criswell carried the ball 18 times for 78 yards and one touchdown and hauled in four receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown. Paris Avery had nine rushes for 83 yards.

Despite giving up 432 yards, Holt saw plenty of things he liked about his defense’s performance and was optimistic of his team’s room for improvement this season.

“See, you guys will see 42 points and see a lot of yards,” Holt said. “But what I saw was great effort. We’re much better than we were last year. If you execute on offense, then you don’t give up 42 points. I don’t like to lose, but I can see the potential in the football team, and I can’t wait to get back to work.”

The Cyclones seek to even their record next week when they travel to Fayetteville to take on the Bulldogs. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.